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Why is it garbage? It's just entertainment. Same way reading random crap on HN is entertainment :)

ekianjo 6y ago
> Same way reading random crap on HN is entertainment :) At least the random crap on HN is intellectually stimulating.
kabacha 6y ago
It's really unfair to clump all of entertainment together. Is watching reality TV same as discussing tech medium? Even if you boil "entertainment" down to "gives you fun points" one clearly gives you something more than that.
- vertex-four 6y ago
  > Is watching reality TV same as discussing tech medium? Honestly, in a lot of cases, yeah. I'm never going to use the vast majority of what I read about on HN, it's simply not in my sphere of work - it's fairly pure entertainment.
- hombre_fatal 6y ago
  I think reading HN and watching reality TV are a lot closer than you think. The obvious difference is that you apparently have contempt for one and not the other. But I challenge the idea that you're being enriched any more by posting on HN. Maybe you learn some new things here and there the same way someone who watches a lot of Elimidate might pick up some social skills/awareness. But notice how convenient it is to attribute bad qualities to the thing you don't even enjoy in the first place, and positive qualities to the thing you do enjoy.
- cyberowl 6y ago
  Yes absolutely. Discussing what's your favorite tech stack to me sounds like discussing what's your favorite shoes No one cares besides you. And in the end it probably doesn't matter which one you pick from a purely logical point of view :)
  - kabacha 6y ago
    Completely disagree with you here. If you want to be a good engineer you must be aware of the current market and trends. If anything I'd even argue that reality TV takes away a lot of humanities from you like social skills and social perceptions.
    - cyberowl 6y ago
      If you want to be a good socialite and marketing professional, you need to know what's trendy and who's influencing the general population. Same idea
      - kabacha 6y ago
        It's completely absurd to think that watching reality tv would give you any social or marketing skills — if anything I'd argue it's the complete opposite.
aspenmayer 6y ago
Agreed. People think it is important to them. It may even impart information they can use to better themselves, not that it necessarily must. It’s entertainment primarily by virtue of usage if not of intent, as in the case of HN.

> Same way reading random crap on HN is entertainment :) At least the random crap on HN is intellectually stimulating.

It's really unfair to clump all of entertainment together. Is watching reality TV same as discussing tech medium? Even if you boil "entertainment" down to "gives you fun points" one clearly gives you something more than that.

vertex-four 6y ago
> Is watching reality TV same as discussing tech medium? Honestly, in a lot of cases, yeah. I'm never going to use the vast majority of what I read about on HN, it's simply not in my sphere of work - it's fairly pure entertainment.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
I think reading HN and watching reality TV are a lot closer than you think. The obvious difference is that you apparently have contempt for one and not the other. But I challenge the idea that you're being enriched any more by posting on HN. Maybe you learn some new things here and there the same way someone who watches a lot of Elimidate might pick up some social skills/awareness. But notice how convenient it is to attribute bad qualities to the thing you don't even enjoy in the first place, and positive qualities to the thing you do enjoy.
cyberowl 6y ago
Yes absolutely. Discussing what's your favorite tech stack to me sounds like discussing what's your favorite shoes No one cares besides you. And in the end it probably doesn't matter which one you pick from a purely logical point of view :)
- kabacha 6y ago
  Completely disagree with you here. If you want to be a good engineer you must be aware of the current market and trends. If anything I'd even argue that reality TV takes away a lot of humanities from you like social skills and social perceptions.
  - cyberowl 6y ago
    If you want to be a good socialite and marketing professional, you need to know what's trendy and who's influencing the general population. Same idea
    - kabacha 6y ago
      It's completely absurd to think that watching reality tv would give you any social or marketing skills — if anything I'd argue it's the complete opposite.

aspenmayer 6y ago

Agreed. People think it is important to them. It may even impart information they can use to better themselves, not that it necessarily must. It’s entertainment primarily by virtue of usage if not of intent, as in the case of HN.